Proteinaceous Polymeric Adhesives and Binding Agents
A variety of different polymeric formulations are known in the art for adhering to biological specimens which contain proteins. Often these are taught to have medical applications, such as in wound healing, implanting cells, organs, prostheses, dental implants, etc.
Erhan, U.S. Pat. No. 4,822,867 teaches the use of graft copolymers of synthetic moieties onto a protein backbone as useful for artificial skin and wound covering. Schwarz, U.S. Pat. No. 4,414,976 discloses the use of a formulation for tissue adhesion which comprises fibrinogen, factor XIII, albumin and a plasmin or plasminogen-activator inhibitor. Reich, U.S. Pat. No. 4,973,466 teaches a wound healing dressing which comprises flocculated fibronectin. Yang, U.S. Pat. No. 5,024,933 teaches the use of a protein preparation from mussels as an adhesive for tissues and cells on which nucleic acid hybridization can be performed. Benedict, U.S. Pat. No. 5,015,677 discloses a composition containing a decapeptide component of a mussel polyphenolic protein in addition to a cross-linking agent. The composition can be used for repairing bones, in ophthalmic surgery, for dental devices, for grafting of plants, for surgical closings, as well as for adhering two electrically conductive substrates through which an electrical current will be passed. However, preparations which require proteins as starting materials are usually more difficult and costly to prepare and handle than those which employ purely synthetic polymers.
Nowinski, U.S. Pat. No. 4,752,638 teaches the use of specific binding pair members in polymers for selectively removing the complementary binding pair members from a solution. The specific binding pair members are conjugated to monomer units which are then polymerized. Binding pair members are themselves usually proteins, such as antibodies, antigens, antibody receptors, hormone receptors, drug receptors, and transport proteins, and thus, are more difficult and costly than synthetic polymers.
Removal and Separation of Proteins from Biological Samples
Phenol is often used to extract proteins and other material that may interfere with subsequent analysis or manipulation of the DNA. (Kirby, Progr. Nucl. Acid Res. Mol. Biol. vol. 3, p. 1, 1964.) However, phenol poses several safety and health hazards, and is therefore undesirable for occupational safety. Chloroform is also regularly used in the isolation of DNA and RNA, usually in combination with phenol. (Maniatis, et al., Molecular Cloning. A Laboratory Manual, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y., 1982, pp. 458-460.) Chloroform is a carcinogen, and so, it too, should be eliminated from the workplace. McCormack U.S. Pat. No. 4,923,978 teaches the use of a solid-phase material with a large surface area and a high concentration of mildly acidic hydroxyls, such as silica, for the separation of proteins from nucleic acids. Svec, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,889,632 and 4,923,610, teach the use of a macroporous polymeric membrane which is made from a copolymer of a vinyl monomer (which may be hydroxystyrene among other things) and a divinyl monomer. These are demonstrated as having utility in the separation of proteins.